Infographic on 3 core Maine Coon appearance features

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There are at least 2, possibly three and more, core Maine Coon features. It depends on your point of view. The three I have chosen are important. The third - the feet - are important to me because the Maine Coon (MC) is famous for polydactyl feet and they are part of the history of the breed which makes it very odd that the CFA do not accept polydactyl show cats. Polydactyl cats are great. Fortunately, TICA does accept them. TICA is more open minded and less stepped in tradition than the CFA. Polydactylism is benign.

It is said that the ships' cats that were brought over with early immigrants to the USA were often polydactyl because the sailors believed that they could maintain their balance with greater certainty than non-poly cats. A reason why they were chosen as ships' cats. As I said it is an important part of the MC history and should be featured. The Boston area on the east coast of the USA is famous for a preponderance of polydactylism in domestic cats.

In addition to the features highlighted there is of course the ruff and the shaggy coat. You'll see a variety of ruff types and lengths. And TICA like shaggy coats but the CFA prefer a more refined appearance. I prefer the more natural appearance (shaggy😊). Once again it is about personal choice.

Ironically, we cannot include the large size of the Maine Coon as a central appearance feature as the breed standards do not demand a large size. 

The super-sized MCs are a product of over-excited breeders who want to stand out among the bubbling competitiveness of breeders on social media.

You'll see a lot of MC breeders online and they are all competing for business. 

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